This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. In many eukaryotes, sphingolipids (SLs) are essential membrane components and play important roles in signal transduction and cell recognition. Unlike mammalian cells, which synthesize sphingomyelin and glycosylsphingolipids, the majority of SLs in Leishmania belongs to are inositol phoshorylceramide (IPC), which is are common in fungi and Trypanosomatid pathogens. Previous study studies showed that Leishmania promastigotes use SL metabolism as a major pathway to produce ethanolamine (EtN), a metabolite essential for their survival and differentiation from non-virulent procyclics to highly virulent metacyclics.